The students called a press conference to talk about their recent trip to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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A woman takes a photo during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel)Buy Photo

A team of nine students from Bearden Middle School plus one from West High School have just returned from Cape Canaveral, Fla., where they saw an experiment they designed launched into space.

For more than a year, they competed on a strict timeline with other schools in their district for a single spot on the Mission 9 space flight in the the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP).

Moamen Emara Ahmed, Alex Hoffman, Luis Alvarado, Jack Lathrop, William Walker, Elise Kersch, Riley Speas, Mauricio Sanchez and Katherine Trent from Bearden and James Pierce from West High School began working on their proposal when most were in the seventh grade. Pierce was then an eighth-grade student at Bearden.

They proposed and designed a microgravity experiment to test a treatment for common pinkeye in space. “We definitely knew we wanted to do something medical since we are looking into long term space travel to Mars and other celestial bodies,"said eighth-grader Elise Kersch who wants to study and work in astrophysics some day. "Pink eye could be a huge problem considering that space travel isn't always sanitary, and it can become acute in microgravity because your immune system is weakened in space. We wanted to do something that could help solve a real problem.”

In Cape Canaveral, the students got to meet other finalist teams, speak with NASA engineers and astronauts and tour the space center. Then, on Feb. 19, they saw their experiment, along with 5,500 lbs of cargo, launched to the International Space Station on a Dragon spacecraft propelled by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

A launch delay caused the students' schedule to change and they missed a planned news conference in Florida. "On the way back, I said well, why not just have one here?" Kayla Canario, the Bearden Middle SSEP team's teacher-adviser, and planned the conference for Wednesday afternoon in the school library.

The students filed into the library in matching team T-shirts with "Failure is not an option" printed on the back. The famous Apollo 13 mission quote is fitting for the competitive team, who has made the finals for next year's launch with a follow-up experiment to test a different treatment for common pink eye so they can compare the results.

"The coolest part was seeing the rocket come back down," Moamen Emara Ahmed, an eighth grader, told the small crowd at the conference. "That's when we knew our project was in space and was on it's way to the ISS."

The spacecraft made the 249 mile trip, but was waved off from the International Space Station due to a GPS problem. The SpaceX Dragon's on-board computers recognized the problem with the navigational data and triggered the abort early Wednesday morning. Flight controllers are planning a second rendezvous attempt for Thursday around 6 a.m.

NASA said the spacecraft is in "excellent shape," and the crew aboard the International Space Station is safe. The rendezvous and installation will be streamed beginning at 4 a.m. on the NASA website.

Once the shipment arrives at the International Space Station, astronauts on board will follow the students’ instructions to perform the experiment and return a log to earth. The students will use the log to record the experiment’s results.

"The work definitely isn't over," Canario said. "We've got to perfectly match sort of the timing and ambiance of how they perform the experiment in space on our control group down here. So when it come's back we'll compare the two and we hope to publish the results.

More than 13,000 students from 21 school districts in the United States and Canada competed for a spot on the Mission 9 flight, collectively submitting almost 3,000 proposals. Mission 9 is Knox County's third spaceflight. Knox County Schools have participated in SSEP, put on by the National Center for Earth and Space Science's since 2012.

A team of Halls Middle School sixth-graders came in second place with their experiment proposal to analyze the effect of microgravity on the germination of squash seeds. They joined Bearden on the trip, along with a Vine Middle School team who won a place on the Mission 11 spaceflight in June. They will return to see their own project launch this summer.

Knox County Schools have participated in the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education’s Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) since 2012. This year's "Mission 9" space flight will be Knox County's third space flight.

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Student Spaceflight Experiments Program students attend a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Interim Superintendent of Knox County Schools, Buzz Thomas, speaks with the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program members at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

James Pierce answers questions at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Tara Kersch, mother of Elise Kersch, takes a photo on her phone during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Elise Kersch displays their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Elise Kersch displays their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

A woman takes a photo during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Will Walker answers questions at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

People attend a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Riley Speas looks on during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Mauricio Sanchez smiles during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Kate Trent looks on during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel

Alex Hoffman answers a question during a press conference at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 22, 2017. Bearden Middle School students involved in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program returned from their trip after watching the space launch of their science experiment to test the effectiveness of antibiotics on pink eye in space on the international space station. Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel